Plz recommend a good (inexpensive) Variac?

I recently closed my shop and am selling off my gear and stock. I sold a half dozen nice Superior Electric variacs at $40-45 a pop, which I think was a good deal for the buyers. Watch Craigs List, deals like mine come up. Look up your local amateur Radio clubs and find out when they have a swap meet.

One of my favorite places is the local university surplus outlet. Michigan State University is here, but I think most sizable universities have some similar salvage operation. When a grant expires or a post grad student lab closes, they don’t throw things away, they have their surplus departments try to sell/recycle/whatever anything they can. I often see oscilloscopes, meters, and yes variacs. I suspect there are universities in south FLorida, check it out. Variacs don’t often wear out, so a used one is a lot cheaper than new. Even though I am selling off my goods, if I see a variac for $15 at university surplus, I snag it immediately, because I can resell it for a higher price in no time.

if you are buying new, I have nothing against the Chinese ones. “Real” brands like Variac and SUperior cost an arm and a leg new.

A variac is seriously limited without a current meter. SO if it includes one, great, otherwise be ready to put a panel meter in a box for it, or otherwise be ready to monitor current.

How much current do you need? Most of my variacs were 1kW – 8A fuse. I might work on 3000 watt power amps with it, but I have no need to run the amp full out while on the variac. Point being a smaller one like 500W (500VA) may well be enough for you. I would have found it useful. here is an example:

https://www.circuitspecialists.com/…ml?otaid=gpl&gclid=CMzIzKOty9ECFYa6wAod_fUNOg

Google “variac” and a bunch of choices come up.

You know, sometimes those ultra vintage hoo-hah units are the ones that come up for $10 at a swap meet. Don’t be picky.I recently closed my shop and am selling off my gear and stock. I sold a half dozen nice Superior Electric variacs at $40-45 a pop, which I think was a good deal for the buyers. Watch Craigs List, deals like mine come up. Look up your local amateur Radio clubs and find out when they have a swap meet.One of my favorite places is the local university surplus outlet. Michigan State University is here, but I think most sizable universities have some similar salvage operation. When a grant expires or a post grad student lab closes, they don’t throw things away, they have their surplus departments try to sell/recycle/whatever anything they can. I often see oscilloscopes, meters, and yes variacs. I suspect there are universities in south FLorida, check it out. Variacs don’t often wear out, so a used one is a lot cheaper than new. Even though I am selling off my goods, if I see a variac for $15 at university surplus, I snag it immediately, because I can resell it for a higher price in no time.if you are buying new, I have nothing against the Chinese ones. “Real” brands like Variac and SUperior cost an arm and a leg new.A variac is seriously limited without a current meter. SO if it includes one, great, otherwise be ready to put a panel meter in a box for it, or otherwise be ready to monitor current.How much current do you need? Most of my variacs were 1kW – 8A fuse. I might work on 3000 watt power amps with it, but I have no need to run the amp full out while on the variac. Point being a smaller one like 500W (500VA) may well be enough for you. I would have found it useful. here is an example:Google “variac” and a bunch of choices come up.